Star Witch

By: Helen Harper

Narrated by: Tanya Eby

Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's Summary

Ivy Wilde, the laziest witch in the West, is still entangled with the Hallowed Order of Magical Enlightenment. That's not a bad thing, however, because it gives her plenty of excuses to spend more time with sapphire-eyed Raphael Winter, her supposed nemesis. And when he comes knocking because he needs her to spy on the latest series of Enchantment, she jumps at the chance.

Hanging around a film set can't be hard - or dangerous - right?

©2017 Helen Harper (P)2017 Tantor

I Adore This Series!!!

By Helen Harper Narrated Tanya Eby Oh My Goddess. I adore this series. It's silly, amusing, and unrealistically realistic. If that made sense to you, then you'll love this series too. Book two starts a month after the events in the first book. Ivy is semi-stalking Winter and has returned to cab driving. And then... circumstances put her on the set of a Magical Reality Show where she must solve another mystery. Oh course Ivy gets into trouble, trys to avoid working, and when time allows she flirts shamelessly with Winter. Nothing goes as planned and Ivy ends up being the only one who can save the situation... and its a lot of work 🤣. Actually I wish the author would have finished out the Reality Show angle... I want to know who would have actually won. Favorite para-phrase: "The Order wants me to spy on Enchantment and Enchantment wants me to spy on the Order. This is quite messy." Why yes Ivy! This is deliciously messy and I rather enjoyed it!!!🤩🤩🤩 I would love to have a chapter from Brutus' point of view. For some reason when he speaks to Ivy he only uses one to three word phrases. Yet, when he speaks with Winter he makes complete highly intelligent sentences. I'm not even sure Ivy knows he can speak in that manner. Also, I wonder why she doesnt spell Winter's cat to speak. Seems like her talking would be beneficial to Winter more that Brutus' speaking is for Ivy. As for Ivy and Winter, they must make a decision about their relation while trying to stay professional. It's only been about a month in a half since they met, but things seem intense. Oh the Joy's of new love. Everything seems urgent and crucial. My Goodreads friend, @Holly, noted that things were better with the slow burn. I agree totally. At least one more book of flirty fun and a couple more one night stands would have given things time to build up. But we are here now and I rather them be intensely in love than not together at all. I looooove the narrator. She gives us the European accents when the character warrants it. She really sounds like the Ivy character was made for her. 4 Stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟. Great book. I've become friends with the characters. This is for my top Tier books. The story is deep with many layers. I probably finished it in a day. I'll likely reread this one when I miss the characters or need a pick me up.

Great story. Fast pace

Lazy girls guide to magic is a fantastic series. Finished both books in just a few days. Ivy is funny and definitely got a great sense of humor. My favorite series from Harper. I think I am just going to read the 3rd book. Because I don't want to wait for the audio book release. Thumbs up for Ivy and Raf!!

Fun and happy

What made the experience of listening to Star Witch the most enjoyable?

Funny and enjoying. Love being with the the story.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Star Witch?

I don't know. I do know when I am. Happy to listen and looking forward to the next sentence with with a sense of adventure and excitement. This does it for me. Waiting for next with anticipation and a smile.

What about Tanya Eby’s performance did you like?

She is very nice and did an excellent job. I love to listen to a talented performance.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Had a smile on my silly face throughout both books.

Another fun book!

No sophomore slump for this one. Another good plot and more of the characters I love from the first book. I love Brutus even more!

Fantastic story. Worst narrator ever.

Loved the story. This was the second time through the series for me. Fantastic characters. A great way to escape from the day. But I've never in my life heard a narrator that sounded so much like a robot that it put me off. This one did. Diction was so pronounced it sounded unnatural. Breathing was incredibly off so much it sometimes confused me what was going on. I stopped listening as soon as I was able. Finished reading it on kindle.

Short

Short middle book. An American accent for British and Scottish characters, really hurts the book. As does the main character not questioning more those who have done her wrong..

The Lazy Girls Guide to Magic Series

I'm not going to write a big review like I did in book one because if you are here I'm going to assume you loved it so much you had to get book 2. In case you are wondering though Helen's "Lazy Girl's Guide to Magic" only gets better each book.

I cant wait for the next book in this series

every character in the series is dynamic. each chapter I listen to makes me want to learn more and more about this world. I hope the series never ends

Oh my witchy

Yep love this lazy guide to her witchy life can't wait to listen to the next one.

Good story telling Great Story

Really good story. Nararator is excellent. If you are looking for a witchy mystery with a splash of danger and a sprinkling of romance then you have found your book. A well written book is a rare treasure.

Great story, but...

I love this lady's writing. It's well-written, witty and the plots are great. What absolutely killed me with this book was an American reading a book that is set in Oxford. With the previous book I could live with it as she does speak very well. But this book is set in Scotland and for me this Scottish accent was so extremely painful to listen to that I almost gave up on the book. It totally and utterly ruined it. Either get someone to narrate who is from Scotland, or who can do a Scottish accent, but to have an American trying this made the bile rise in my throat. I'm sorry. She's a lovely lady with a great speaking voice and for the rest of the book and the previous one, I could get past the accent. But this was a killer. Please don't do it again.

Let down by choice of narrator

What did you like best about Star Witch? What did you like least?

A vast improvement over the first book in the series - the awful Winter turns out to be not as bad as he seemed and finally Does The Right Thing with regard to his misplaced loyalty to H.O.M.E.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Star Witch?

The obstacle course was was a fun scene

Would you be willing to try another one of Tanya Eby’s performances?

Only if she isn't narrating and English character or a book set in the UK with lots of non-American characters.

Any additional comments?

Given how awful the first book was, I was very surprised by how good the story is in this one It is, however, a shame a non-English narrator was selected for this series, as the American accent speaking such English phrases and slang jarred all the way through. She can't do a decent English accent and can't pronounce things the English way either.

I'd advise reading the print version rather than listening to the Audiobook.

Great story, very poor narrator choice.

The American accent for a British woman from Oxford was bad enough in the first book, but the awful Scottish accents and bad pronunciation of place names in this book was agonising.

Brilliant

Would have been better with a real English accent, but doesn't affect the story

Good book but poor narration

I love Helen Harpers books but the narration is not very good and the attempt at a Scottish accent is just painful.

What possesses a successful narrator to accept a job that clearly is all wrong for her?

Tanya Eby is a great narrator. She does NOT do an English accent well. As for her Scottish accent, it’s a bloody crime against nature. Why the hell would she accept this job? My ears are bleeding.

I do enjoy these books.

This is the 2nd book in the Lazy Girl's Guide to Magic and after enjoying the first one so much I Had high hopes. I am happy to say that every bit of the writing and the narration lived up to my high expectations. Helen Harper is excellent at blending danger, adenture and humour and Tanya Eby does a magical job of bringing these stories to life. Fabulous.

enjoyable and funny

very well paced storyline, narrator did a marvellous job. I was sorry it ended and will look for next in series as soon as I finish this review.

Totally different

I came across this series by accident and never regretted it! Funny and serious together. Gareth and his sheep are a bit silly and I think she could have found a better plot device or done it slightly differently and occasionally the dialogue is out of character. However it's possible to overlook it in the overall enjoyment of the story and the brilliant narration by Tanya Eby.

good follow up in this series

My Thoughts:
Why in god's name did Ivy suddenly look like a drag queen in the cover of this book? Sure, the over-glittered barbie look is not my favourite, but it was preferable to the drag queen!!! Anyway, Brutus is getting a bit of action in this book and for the first time ever, I get to read him talk in real sentences and hold a conversation! How's that for fun! Ok, ok... I so need to get a life... on the other hand... nah, I'll just read a book :) ..So, I wondered why the title of this book is Star Witch, then it made sense as I read on. The cover might not be the best, but, one thing you can say about this series is that the titles are always apropos! And as usual, the narration is wonderful!

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4
Character development = 4
Story itself = 4
Writing Style = 4
Ending = 4
World building = 4
Cover art = 3
Pace = (8 hours & 9 minutes)
Plot = 4.5
Narration = 5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5